StarCraft II
StarCraft II is the long awaited sequel to the real-time strategy game StarCraft, announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea.Onyett, Charles. 2007-05-18. IGN: Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational Begins IGN.com, Retrieved 2007-05-19.Park, Andrew. 2007-05-18. GameSpot: Starcraft II warps into Seoul. Gamespot. Retrieved 2007-05-19. Development on the game began shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne back in 2003.Stapleton, Dan. "StarCraft II." PC Gamer Magazine 164 (August 2007): 20-30. Game development is "very far along," and already playable in multiplayer. The game was still in pre-alpha in May, 2008Mielke, James. 2008-05-08. The Dangerous Book for Zerglings: The latest intel on Zerg units and structures. 1up.com Accessed 2008-05-08. and had not yet reached beta in June 2008.Pardo, Rob and Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-06-29. WorldWide Invitational 2008: Pictures, Presentations, Videos (StarCraft II Panel: Evolving Design) SC2 Blog. Accessed 2008-06-30. Blizzard expects the game to be released faster than the usual 3-4 year period after a game is announced.Sigaty, Chris. 2007-08-30. Starcraft II - BlizzCon 2007 Visuals and Story Interview. GameTrailers.com Accessed 2007-12-03. The game has no certain release date.Kalning, Kristin. 2007-05-31. Can Blizzard top itself with 'StarCraft II? MSNBC Accessed 2008-01-19. The lead designer for StarCraft II is Dustin Browder.2007-05-19. Gameplay Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. History StarCraft II has been in development since Blizzard released WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne (July, 2003). As such it has been in development for roughly four years. The development was ramped up shortly after the production of World of Warcraft which was when Blizzard Entertainment hired Dustin Browder on March 14th, 20052007-07-20. StarCraft 2: Interview mit Dustin Browder (in German) GameStar. Accessed 2007-07-22. to the position of senior designer.Mielke, James. 2007-07-27. Protoss for a Day. 1up.com Accessed 2007-07-28. He was later promoted to lead designer. The team devoted to StarCraft II consists of only about 40 developers, including twelve people who worked on the original StarCraft.Zerg Announcement Interview (translated). StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2008-03-10. Gameplay StarCraft II gameplay will feature the original three gameplaying races and no new races.Park, Andrew (2007-05-19). Q&A session details Starcraft II. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.Rausch, Allen (2007-05-19). StarCraft II Q&A Sessions. GameSpy. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.Schleicher, Keith. Interview with Blizzard's Kevin Yu on StarCraft II Gaming Trend. Accessed 2007-10-01. StarCraft II retains some units from the original game, although some of these units have been given new abilities. Due to story events from the previous game, some units have been phased out or replaced. For example, the conquest of the Protoss homeworld of Aiur has prevented the creation of more Dragoons - the transplanted forms of Protoss warriors in exoskeletons - resulting in the remaining Dragoons to be redesigned with different weaponry and a shield that absorbs heavy damage and renamed to "Immortals".Blizzard Entertainment. 2007-05-19. Immortal. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-06. Retrieved 19 May 2007 The demo reveals new abilities that involve more complex interaction with the game environment than in StarCraft. Terran units known as Reapers can swiftly leap over cliffs, and Protoss Stalkers are capable of short-range teleportation to pursue fleeing enemies. Additionally, new abilities have been extended to structures. The Protoss are able to warp prefabricated units within range of their Pylons, and also possess the Phase Prism, a unit that acts as a mobile Pylon, providing power to Protoss buildings in the absence of conventionally built Pylons. The number of units in the game will not significantly change. For every new unit added, one "underused" unit has been removed.Rausch, Allen 'Delsyn'. 2007-05-20. Gamespy Panel Report. Gamespy. Retrieved 2007-05-21.Edwards, Tim. 2007-11-07. Terran-forming. CVG PC Gamer. Accessed 2007-11-08. Multiplayer Gaming StarCraft II is also designed to focus more heavily on the multiplayer aspect, when compared to the original StarCraft. The changes include overall improvement in Battle.net, a new competitive "ladder" system for ranked games, and new matchmaking mechanics – designed to "match-up" players of equal skill levels.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft2.com - FAQ. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2007-06-30. In addition, the replay function, which allows players to record and review past games, will be improved. Resource sharing between allies may also be allowed.Karune. 2007-07-23. StarCraft II Q&A - Karune Briefings. StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2007-09-06. The game is currently set to have eight players but this may change. Gameplay Differences from StarCraft * When a Ghost paints a target area for a Nuclear Missile, a large visible nuclear symbol appears to the player. The small red dot is still all that is seen by other players. * A player can select multiple buildings and 255 units in the latest build.Exclusive Karune's answers for StarCraftCZ.com. StarCraftCZ.com Accessed 2008-06-03. * A player can set a rally point for a "town hall" to a mineral or Vespene source and workers will mine the resource automatically when built. Combat units will attack-move to the rally point.2007-08-12. Official Features Summary. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-08-13. * Idle worker units can be quickly selected with an idle worker button.Stapleton, Dan. "StarCraft II." PC Gamer Magazine 164 (August 2007): 20-30.Karune. 2008-02-04. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 28. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-02-04. *A player may be able to change the hotkeys around. *Spellcasting units will use "smart casting"; when multiple units are given a same spell order, only one of them will comply, preventing a serious wastage of energy of the spellcasters. *Control group tabs will display what units are bound to each group number. *Subgroups allow the player to scroll through different type of units in his current selection with the Tab key. *The AI has been improved; it will scout more and make decisions accordingly.Karune. 2008-02-08. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 29. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-06-06. Player units "won't line up like ants" when given a move command. Units will not bunch up unless given a manual attack command against a specific enemy unit. If so, they will spread apart when the enemy unit dies or they become idle.Karune. 2007-11-13. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 21. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-14. Units in the same selection with different speed characteristics will continue to move at different rates.Karune. 2007-12-06. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 23 Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-12-07. *Holding the Alt button will show unit and building hit points overhead. *SCVs can autocast their Repair ability.James Mielke, Jeff Green. 2008-05-05. Previews: StarCraft II: Seven matches, seven deaths, seven victories. 1up.com Accessed 2008-05-6.Cavez (Browder, Dustin). 2007-07-25. Autocast Battle.net StarCraft General Discussion Forum Accessed 2007-07-25. Carriers can auto-build their Interceptors.Karune. 2008-04-08. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 34. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-04-08Source: Shacknews. Artist: Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-11-29. The new Medivac Dropships can autocast Heal just as Medics could in StarCraft I.Zero. 2008-03-15. My Day At Blizzard. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2008-03-16. *In melee games, players will be able to choose from between 12 to 18 colors.Karune. 2007-09-07. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 12. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-09-07. *Units have a hold button which stops them from moving and also from attacking.Karune. 2007-10-15. Karune: Did we get a "Hold Fire" command? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. *The damage system has been significantly altered. Units now do base damage with bonuses against certain unit classes.Cavez. 2008-02-04. Armor in SC2. ''Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-02-04. Protoss shields take extra damage just like the unit they protect.Karune. 2008-01-11. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 25. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-01-11. *Terrain combat bonuses have been removed. However, terrain is still important in a battle. For instance, units that attack from a ledge will not be revealed to the player of the units being attacked.Karune. 2008-06-11. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 40. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-06-11. "Line of sight blockers", currently resembling bushes, will enable units to ambush each other.Dustin Browder, Ricardo Torres. 2008-03-12. Gamespot: Dustin Browder Starcraft 2 Interview. Blizzplanet/Gamespot. Accessed 2008-03-13. **Units at the base of a ramp will not be able to target opponents beyond the top of the ramp, but will be able to see brief flashes of attacking units. Units that reach halfway up the ramp will have unrestricted vision above the ramp.to comment on page 2 in regards to LOS on rampsIf the attacking units move halfway up the ramp, they get their full vision radius above the ramp. If the ramp is blocked at the bottom, the attacking units will not be able to target what is beyond the top of the ramp, though they will be able to see snapshots of units that attack them so they will be able to understand the scale of the threat that exists at the top of the ramp. Karune. 2008-06-11. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 40. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-06-11. High Yield Resources Gold-colored "High Yield Mineral Fields" have been added to the game. These minerals are worth more per "chunk" transported by a worker unit.Mielke, James. 2007-07-27. Protoss for a Day. 1up.com Accessed 2007-07-28.Dustin Browder, Chris Sigaty, Samwise Didier and Gunnar "Leord" Petzall. Zerg Q&A. INC Gamers. Accessed on 2008-20-03 Expansion sites containing gold minerals will be worth fighting over, creating a new strategy around which expansion sites to claim. A similar mechanic for high-yield Vespene geysers may also be devised.Karune. 2007-09-20. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 14. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-09-21. Other Gameplay Differences *Some doodads can be destroyed by effects such as explosion, possibly opening up inaccessible areas of a map.Karune. 2007-10-29. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 19. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-10-30. Rocks will have viewable hit points and can be destroyed by any attacking unit.Karune. 2007-11-12. Chat with Karune about the Screenshots. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-12. Cliff-climbing units such as the Reaper and Colossus can climb or jump over the rocks.Karune. 2007-12-12. Chat with Karune about the Screenshots (page 10). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-12-21. *Observation Posts are neutral structures or doodads which can be temporarily occupied by units. This expands that player's viewing area.Karune. 2007-11-12. Chat with Karune about the Screenshots. (Page 6) Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-12. *Protoss "casters" will be able to "share" energy with other casters.Karune. 2007-01-22. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 26. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-01-22. *Customizable decals can be added to Terran structures, showing various faction logos.We are exploring various 'customizable' traits with those decals, though nothing has been nailed down for sure yet. When we do, I'll make sure to keep everyone updated. Karune. 2008-05-23. StarCraft II Unit Update: Baneling. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-05-25. Races and Units :'' Main article: List of StarCraft II units'' StarCraft II will only feature the three original races in standard multiplayer: Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. It has been confirmed that there will not be a fourth race introduced.Kalning, Kristin. 2007-05-31. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18925251/ Can Blizzard top itself with StarCraft II?]. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2007-06-01.Park, Andrew (2007-05-19). Q&A session details Starcraft II. GameSpot. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.Rausch, Allen (2007-05-19). StarCraft II Q&A Sessions. GameSpy. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.Schleicher, Keith. Interview with Blizzard's Kevin Yu on StarCraft II Gaming Trend. Accessed 2007-10-01. However, when asked about the possibility of Hybrids and Xel'Naga in the game, Blizzard Entertainment employee Karune replied that "we are planning to explore the mysteries surrounding the Xel'naga for the single player campaign. In the campaign you will encounter several unique units that would not otherwise be seen in multiplayer."Karune. 2007-09-14. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 13. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-09-14. Campaigns :Main article: StarCraft II introduction. The game takes place four years after StarCraft: Brood War,Park, Andrew. 2007-05-20. Blizzard outlines StarCraft II gameplay. Gamespot.Metzen, Chris; Chambers, Andy; Masterboo. 2007-08-31. BlizzCon 2007 StarCraft Lore Panel Editorial. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2007-12-02. approximately the same time as the storyline of StarCraft: Ghost.2006-02-15. Story. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-01. The storyline is being written by Chris Metzen and Andy Chambers, concurrently with The Dark Templar Saga which is written by Christie Golden. StarCraft II will take place both in new worlds and in worlds that had appeared in the original game. Char is backPark, Andrew. 2007-05-19. Blizzard talks Starcraft II art design. Gamespot. as is Mar Sara.2007-08-03. StarCraft II Single-Player Campaign BlizzCon Preview. Gamespot. Accessed 2007-08-07. One of the new worlds is Bel'shir, a jungle-covered Protoss-colonized moon that was a religious retreat until it was attacked by the Zerg; it now houses many ruined temples.2008-02-28. BlizzCast: Taking you deeper into the World of Blizzard: Episode 2. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-02-28. The world shown in the cinematic is Braxis Alpha. Other new worlds include Red Stone and Jotun. Jim Raynor is set to continue his adventures as is Infested Kerrigan.2008-03-14. Blizzard Presents SC2 in China. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2008-06-07. The campaigns will be a tree-shaped arrangement, enabling players to choose different passages, level-ups and bonuses. Each campaign will have a distinct beginning and end, but the center portion will vary considerably when played by different people. Each person might try a different set of subquests, and finish them in different ways. Each campaign will have its own starmap. Recent Events # The United Earth Directorate forces were destroyed by Infested Kerrigan's Zerg armies (though a few surviving companies are still around somewhere in the Sector).Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2008-04-16. The Story so Far... Part 2: The Brood War. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-04-16. # The biggest Terran faction in StarCraft II will be the "evil empire" of the Terran Dominion. The Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan Protectorate are currently independent from the Dominion, which is trying to consolidate its power. However, Raynor's Raiders are the main playable faction, and Jim Raynor is referenced as the central character of the Terran campaign. # The Zerg, under the command of Infested Kerrigan, have pulled back to Char and been quiet for four years. No one knows what Kerrigan is planning as her forces kill all enemy scouting parties. Kerrigan herself says the Zerg have evolved and thrived during this period, and are becoming "much, much more, for the final metamorphosis has only just begun." Kerrigan is planning on invading many worlds.2008-03-18. Zerg Reveal Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-03-21. Terran Campaign :Zeratul: "I bring tidings of doom. The Xel'Naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key." :Jim Raynor: "The key... the key to what?" :Zeratul: "To the end of all things." :―Zeratul delivers a warning to Jim Raynorsrc In the Terran campaign, players will be able to choose their own missions in the middle part of the campaign rather than progress through a set series. Interactions in briefings will also change, as Jim Raynor can interact with those around him (e.g. he can walk around the Hyperion, talk to characters like Tychus Findlay and his second-in-command Matt Horner and even play around with his armory's crane). Also, (access to) units and upgrades for them are purchased outside actual missions, at least in the Terran Campaign. Heroes and NPC units Heroes will not be buildable in melee maps. Each will have a unique appearance.Karune. 2008-05-15. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 38. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed on 2008-05-15. They will fill the same role they did in StarCraft I, "but they will have even more unique abilities from standard units".Karune. 2007-08-31. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 11. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-08-31. Heroes will not often appear in campaigns, and will have little impact in gameplay. Their role is mostly restricted to "story space". Some units that were "cut" during StarCraft II's development will appear in the single-player campaign as well. Other Races The Xel'Naga will fit into the story "in a rather epic tale". It is important to note that the "greater whole" of the Xel'Naga race was wiped out, which means some of them may still be alive.Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. According to Zeratul, the "cycle nears its end." This involves the finding of Xel'Naga artifacts. The Hybrid is not available as a playable race in StarCraft II, but a strange creature which may be a Hybrid is portrayed in a StarCraft II trailer. Blizzard Entertainment promised that "the Zerg/Protoss hybrid would be dealt with."Jon Blyth. 2007-06-23. StarCraft II, part two. CVG. Retrieved on June 24, 2007. When Blizzard Entertainment employee Karune was asked if there would be any Hybrid units in StarCraft II, he replied "we are planning to explore the mysteries surrounding the Xel'naga for the single player campaign. In the campaign you will encounter several unique units that would not otherwise be seen in multiplayer." Movies StarCraft II will feature fewer, more epic movies compared to the original. In addition, there will be several in-game cutscenes of higher quality than StarCraft I's pre-rendered movies. Development and Technologies StarCraft II will support the DirectX 9 (Pixel Shader 2.0) software. It will be fully compatible with DirectX 10 as well, which will provide access to enhanced graphical effects.Schleicher, Keith. Interview with Blizzard's Kevin Yu on StarCraft II Gaming Trend. Accessed 2007-10-01. The Mac client will utilize OpenGL, instead. The game will also feature the Havok physics engine, allowing realistic interaction with the environment, such as "debris rolling down a ramp". StarCraft II will support screen resolutions from 5:4 to 16:9. Larger screens will have a slightly larger viewable range.Karune. 2008-01-11. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 25. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-01-11. Game unit models will feature more polygons than World of Warcraft player models. During game design, 3DSMax was used to create the unit models, and Photoshop was used to edit textures.Browder, Dustin. (Cavez). 2007-10-29. Question for Karune/Someone who knows. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-10. Plans to integrate voice over internet protocol into the game are underway. Gore can be disabled, but doing so will require restarting the game.Karune. 2007-10-29. Re: Gore Disabling. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2007-10-30. Startools Startools will be included along with Scumedit. Currently there is not much information available. Startools lets modders designs and create doodads. Scumedit :'' Main article: Scumedit'' The game will come with a map editor called "scumedit". The StarCraft II Map Editor will improve upon the World Editor from Warcraft III in every way.Karune. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 39: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-05-28. Trailers, Demonstrations & Other Videos Blizzard Entertainment made the very first publicly playable demo of StarCraft II available at BlizzCon.Main page of the official Blizzard website. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed June 21, 2007. StarCraft II was featured at E3 2007, July 11th 2007.Karune. 2007-07-09. Starcraft 2 @ E3 2007!. Battle.net StarCraft General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-07-09. Only a demo was viewable, not a playable version. StarCraft II was featured at BlizzCon 2007, August 3rd to 4th, 2007. Terrans and Protoss were playable. The same two races were playable at GenCon Indy.Medievaldragon. 2007-08-21. Starcraft II Gencon Indy 2007 Video. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2007-08-22. The game was available at the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, August 22nd to 26th 2007.2007-08-20. Blizzard Entertainment® Showcases Playable Titles at Leipzig Games Convention Blizzard Entertainment Accessed 2007-08-20. Official Videos The official videos featured Blizzard Entertainment employees making official announcements. Most are stored on the official website for StarCraft II, established and maintained by Blizzard Entertainment. WWI 2007 Videos * First artwork trailer, showing a large number of scanned Concept Art drawings/paintings for StarCraft II and another Protoss/Terran battle on a different map than the first official gameplay demo video.2007-05-19. Artwork Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. * First cinematic trailer, introducing Tychus Findlay and showing in detail the involved, robotic process of installing a Terran Marine's armor.2007-05-19. Cinematic Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. * First official gameplay demo, giving a tour by means of a video recorded from an apparently mission-like game that demonstrates and describes the Protoss Gateway ability, updated Protoss Zealot, the new Protoss Immortal, the new Terran Reaper, the new Protoss Phase Prism, the Protoss Stalker, the new or updated Zerg Nydus Worm and classic Zerglings, the ability to combine Protoss Phase Prisms and Gateway ability to create a significant force anywhere on the map, massive new Protoss Colossus units, the ability for classic Zerglings to mutate into new Banelings, the classic Zerg Mutalisks, new Protoss Phoenix, classic Terran Battlecruiser, new Protoss Warp Ray, and the "ultimate" unit of StarCraft II: the Protoss Mothership. It finishes with a Terran/Protoss brawl which ends with three Ghosts each launching a Nuke that wipes out the entirety of the Protoss and Terran forces involved in the brawl (with the exception of the Ghosts) and Zerglings killing the Ghosts and forming up the letters 'GG' as they mutate into Banelings. BlizzCon 2007 Videos Blizzard Entertainment showcased several videos at BlizzCon 2007. *'Terran Gameplay Trailer:' Shown at BlizzCon 2007, this video demonstrated Terran units such as the Banshee, Ghost and Thor.2007-09-13. Gameplay Video - Terran. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-14. *'Terran Campaign Trailer:' Also shown at BlizzCon, this video demonstrated some of the mechanics behind the new Terran campaign, as well as discussions between Jim Raynor and other characters. *'Art Video:' A discussion featuring the artwork of StarCraft II.2007-08-03. BlizzCon StarCraft art/graphics panel discussion The Unofficial Starcraft 2 Forums @ IncGamers Accessed 2007-08-07. *'Lore Video:' Chris Metzen and Andy Chambers discussed the lore of the StarCraft universe. March 2008 Videos Blizzard Entertainment held a press event in March 2008 to showcase the Zerg. *'Zerg Reveal Trailer:' At the event, Blizzard Entertainment showed a video featuring the Zerg and a voiceover by Infested Kerrigan.2008-03-18. Zerg Reveal Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-03-21. References External links * [http://www.starcraft2.com/ Official StarCraft II website] * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft_II StarCraft II at Wikipedia] * StarCraft Legacy * [http://tvpot.daum.net/theme/ThemeView.do?themeid=122&lu=m_mono_1 Video footage of StarCraft II] at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational * StarCraft II Gameplay video (YouTube) * Blizzard Artwork Trailer (YouTube) * [http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850126/imgs_1.html Gameplay screenshots of StarCraft II] courtesy IGN Category: Games